TCP/IP has been known as a communication protocol on Ethernet (registered trademark). In the TCP/IP, an IP address is used as information for identifying a terminal on Ethernet, and this IP address is uniquely allocated to each terminal. As a method for uniquely allocating an IP address, there is a method for giving an IP address to a terminal while avoiding duplication, recording this IP address in a recording device within the terminal, and reading out the recorded IP address at a time of activation.
As a method for determining an IP address of a terminal itself, there is a method of using a reverse address resolution protocol (RARP). The RARP is a protocol for inquiring an IP address that corresponds to a MAC address (a physical address on Ethernet) of the terminal itself. According to the RARP, when a MAC address of the terminal itself is broadcasted, a RARP server on a network responds the IP address. The RARP is effective for inquiring an IP address when a device that does not have an external storage device is connected to a network.
In the RARP, a BOOTP (BOOTstrap Protocol) and a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) are also used in some cases to deal with a problem in that only IP addresses of which a corresponding MAC address is registered in advance to the RARP server can be handled (Non Patent Literature 1).